Action comes as country seeks to make up for downturn in shipments from EU

NOTE:This column is copyrighted material, therefore reproduction or retransmission is prohibited under U.S. copyright laws.

In WashImports of US and Brazilian pork by Russia are now set to resume in March, according to Russia’s veterinary and phytosanitary service (VPSS).

While agreeing to restart the imports, VPSS spokesman Alexei Alekseenko said, “We will allow supplies from firms which guarantee us that they don't use ractopamine.” And, he noted that no list of US suppliers has been approved as of yet.

Brazil and Canada have indicated that they would like to increase pork supplies to Russia, Alekseenko said.

Russia had blocked imports of pork from the US and Canada due to the presence of ractopamine, a compound blocked for use in Russia. Alekseenko said that imports from Canada are expected to resume this year, but said that would only happen after a VPSS inspection which has yet to be scheduled.

Russia limited its imports of pork from Brazil in 2011 on concerns over their safety monitoring system while the imports from the European Union were limited in January after an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Lithuania.

Comments: The situation comes on the heels of Russia announcing Tuesday they were prepared to resume imports of US turkey after the ractopamine situation flared up and prompted bans of US pork and turkey in Feb. 2013. However, it does not appear yet to be a full reopening of the market to US pork.

NOTE: This column is copyrighted material, therefore reproduction or retransmission is prohibited under U.S. copyright laws.